Superluminal
by ananiah
Summary: [excerpts from the databanks of the moon clipper]


"Audio playback enabled."

"Many ages ago, Auberon Lunanoff discovered how to turn dying stars into stardust. This new invention could be shaped into anything, and used as a near infinite energy source.

"The Constellations, rulers of the Golden Age, turned the invention into a war machine. They built ships, the _Golden Galleon_ and the _Moon Clipper_, among many. The _Golden Galleon_ became a troop transport, capable of moving millions of soldiers through the stars.

"And thus began the Golden Age. It was a time of fighting, of Fearlings, and of victory. From this age were born many heroes... many of whom are now lost to time. However, there one name the universe can never forget.

"This is the name of Kozmotis Pitchiner, who rose quickly to renown and fame across all the stars. He became General of the Golden Army, and the _Golden Galleon_ was his to command. Although history remembers him as a failure and a mockery, I believe he won the war against the Fearlings.

"But through him, the Golden Age fell. He let out the shadows."

* * *

"It was not too long ago that I decided to create the Guardians. Sandy was the first, then Aster. Nicholas St. North and Toothiana came later.

"Much of my ship's stardust was invested in those four, especially Sandy. And the star converters in the _Moon Clipper_ weren't precisely in factory condition. But Pitch was rising, again, and I had to do something...

"I don't expect there shall be any more Guardians after Jack Frost. Perhaps one more... then again, perhaps not."

* * *

"Sometimes, I think about flying away from Earth. I know Pitch would follow me. I could save the world from his fearlings and Nightmare Men.

"But I never anticipated—my father never anticipated—how much this world would come to rely on the _Moon Clipper_. Leaving would throw the planet out of whack, possibly destroy it. I can't leave. Thus, Pitch will never leave, and I wonder which they'd prefer.

"I think they'd prefer the Guardians, to be honest."

* * *

"The language Thysa, spoken by the royal houses of the Constellations, is, or rather, was, the most powerful language in the worlds.

"There was a time when a word could change fates, could move galaxies.

"But they're just words now. Old words, spoken by an old man."

* * *

"This Age, the Sixth, is the Age of the Guardians.

"The first was called the Age of Creation, when the universe was new. The second was the Age of Light, and after that came the Golden Age. I could tell you all the tales about the Golden Age, about the Constellations, and about Kozmotis Pitchiner. He was a hero, back when I was young, and every child wanted to be just like him.

"But then came the Dark Ages. Pitch Black conquered thousands of worlds, made a mockery of all Pitchiner stood for.

"One man made the Golden Age, and one man broke it. I never wanted to believe the fate of so many could hinge on so few.

"That's why I have my Guardians, and they have their believers.

"Because I want to believe that it's never just one person who decides the fate of the universe."

* * *

"Past tense conjugation of the irregular verb _erithane_, to hope. Ea merilia, an merili, sen meril, am meriliar, sena merilian.

"Past tense conjugation of the irregular verb _alantene_, to fall. Ea malantha, an malanthi, sen malanth, am malanthear, sena malanthen.

"Past tense conjugation of the irregular verb _byrene_, to fly..."

* * *

"Nightlight's idea of a good time is tinkering with the star converters in the ship. He doesn't have to hold a flashlight, you see. He glows."

* * *

"My father led House Lunanoff, chief among the Constellations. We lived on a world named Stelaeria, which means something like _Starsong_ in Thysa.

"Pitchiner was from a city far to the west of my childhood home, in a place called Penhelegon, the Western Light. I lived at the palace in Sayashi Sekisi, the Snow City. I suppose none of this matters anymore, since those places are long gone.

"Anyway... the Nightmare Prison was on Stelaeria's moon, Lakath.

"Stelaeria was the first to fall."

* * *

"Thysan numbers, starting from zero. Mitu, isten, sina, saleh, rebis, enin, ses, xev, samed, novum, disru..."

* * *

"Nightlight insists he can fix the converters... given another ten thousand years. At least half the parts need replacing, but there's no way to actually get them without using stardust. He's trying to make them out of metal, but I'm not sure how they'll work with the sand.

"He's glaring at me right now."

* * *

"Today, Jack went to Jamie's wedding. I think the other Guardians have almost forgotten little Jamie, the Last Light, thoughts turning to other children.

"But not Jack, never Jack. He loves Jamie too much to ever forget him. Besides, you never forget your first believer.

"Jack Frost. Do you know his name? If you're listening to this, do you know his name? Where he lived, who he loved? Who are you? How long has this recording been waiting for you?

"If you're here, where am I?

"...That was perhaps overly existential."

* * *

"I'm trying to fix this moonboot, L-434, in service for nearly two billion years. There's a stuck gear in 434's ankle.

"And Nightlight's taken the tool kit again."

* * *

"Pitch talks to me. More than the Guardians do, funnily enough. About life, death, fear, the usual... and sometimes, he talks about the Dark Ages.

"You know, they weren't confined to Earth. The Dark Age lasted for millions of years as Pitch destroyed every single outpost of the Constellations. Of course, I was not there for much of the actual destruction. The galaxy I lived in was many light-years from this one, and during the time that I traversed those light-years, Pitch razed everything I'd known to the ground.

"He's followed me across all that distance. For revenge, I suppose.

"All I know is that he's never getting Earth so long as I'm alive. However long that is."

* * *

"Thysan prepositions. In English, the sentence... 'This is from me,' is ordered subject-verb-direct-object. In Thysan, it would be somewhat like subject-direct-object-verb. _Kel-dea akiv_, 'this is from me.' _From_ and_ me_ are stuck together.

"The preposition is hooked on to the end of the word it modifies. So the phrase 'in the wintertime,' for example, would be the word for _time_, 'naneta,' and _in_, 'ne,' stuck together, plus _winter_, 'ochelo.' The phrase would be _Naneta-ne ochelo_. There's no word for wintertime.

"Well, I suppose if you wished you could say _nanetóchelo-ne_, but that's rather sloppy."

* * *

"Sandy, Pitch, Aster, Nightlight, and I are old beyond measure. I suppose it doesn't matter to one such as Pitch. Sandy perceives time strangely, more like dream-time than real time. It goes fast for him. For Aster, time has no meaning. He travels when he pleases, does what he wants. Nightlight... he is, and always will be, young at heart. Years roll off him; time will never make his light dimmer.

"And as for me? All those years and months and days and hours and minutes and seconds are like lead weights. I'm not like them, I don't think.

"They have found ways to not miss so much what they have lost."

* * *

"'Tvet yara sableda, áshaili. Tvet naneta-ca balon, ai naneta-skyr alar. Shatal orela balon-shia, shalar, ayen sil galith'a.'

"There is always hope, remember this. There is a time for fear, but that time is not now. Do not let fear win, not now, so close to the end.

"Kozmotis Pitchiner said that, once, countless lifetimes ago."

* * *

"Of all the Guardians, Jack Frost is the most different. The others don't quite understand what loneliness is.

"I wish he never had to learn the true meaning of loneliness.

"I wish too many things."

* * *

"The _Moon Clipper_ used to be a real ship. Not a prison. It was the fastest ship in the fleet.

"Now it's the moon.

"That seems kind of ridiculous now, a ship turning into a moon. But I suppose in a world of space pirates and men of shadow, _ridiculous_ becomes a more circumstantial word.

"The _Moon Clipper_. Old, rusty, and useless. The star converter's broken again, but that doesn't matter. There aren't any stars around to convert.

"Auberon Lunanoff, if you can hear me wherever you are... your invention may be the most confusing thing in the universe. It made and broke just about everything. And I wonder sometimes... if you'd never invented it, what would've happened?

"No stardust ships at all, just good old metal ones. No troop transports like the _Galleon_ for General Pitchiner. No cage for the shadows. No winning the war, no creation of Pitch Black. No Guardians...

"The stardust does wonders for the human race. It did horrors for the Golden Age, though.

"...That's rather ambiguous."

* * *

"Nightlight's trying to make a... _dveredach_, a type of nested gear for the converter. It's two gears in one.

"That explains all the banging in the background.

"He loves building and fixing things. At least the _Moon Clipper_ keeps him on his toes. Things are always breaking now.

"Hey, Nightlight! How's the gear?

"Oh, right. He doesn't speak English. _Eto, Ilumiel! Akiv-cor dveredach?_

"He says it's going poorly, but thanks for asking. Well, he doesn't really _say_ anything; he just kind of flickers a bit and glares. But that's the gist of what he said.

"He's glaring at me again. _Chara? Teonam sh'melior-vehan suniath!_ I _didn't_ say anything bad about him.

"He says to stop repeating everything he says back to the microphone."

* * *

"Jamie named his first child 'Jackson Nicholas Bennett,' and I think it's already gone to Jack's head. Even though it was only yesterday. North's proud as well. Aster and Sandy and Tooth are just _waiting_ for the next baby, though. It's a bit terrifying.

"Nightlight has also discovered French pop. The end draws near."

* * *

"I decided to make this audio log mostly as something to do. It's awfully boring around here.

"Do you ever wish you could go back? Change the past? I think about that a lot. Too much. If I could turn back time...

"Well, I can't.

"No one can. Except Aster, and he never interferes. For good reason, I suppose, since time doesn't like being rewritten.

"As pastimes go, this log is a fairly depressing one."

* * *

"Little Jackson loves ice skating. It makes Jack so nervous...

"But I know Jack would never let him fall.

"That child is so pampered. All the Guardians love him, and there have been several kidnapping attempts on Tooth's part."

* * *

"I think that I'll make one more Guardian. Just in case. I've my eye on several spirits; Mother Nature, Makara... I might choose Punxsutawney, just to annoy Aster... But that would be a very bad idea in the long run.

"But I think, in the end, the new Guardian will be like Jack, an unknown. John Storm seems like a very good option.

"You probably know who I chose. Any chance you could help me out? Make a paradox? I've always wanted to do that."

* * *

"Thysan numbers, counting in tens. Disru, sinnet, salet, rebnet, eninet, sesset, xevet, samnet, novet, isten aniri. Isten aniri disru, isten aniri sinnet..."

* * *

"Sayashi Sekisi had the most beautiful gardens. Funny, how that's almost all I remember. I used to hide from my teachers in that garden. It stretched for miles across the snow plains, green even in the dead of winter.

"Penhelegon, Kozmotis's city, was glass and metal. Beautiful in a more modern, cold way... I can barely recall it now."

* * *

"That's it. My six Guardians. Should one fall... I brought Sandy back a few decades ago, but that'll never happen again.

"Unfortunately, they're on their own against Pitch.

"Nightlight continues his daily struggle with the converters, and the layers of stardust and grease are so thick on him I think they're starting to block out his light.

"He's discovered Eurovision as well."

* * *

"I wish I knew what was best. I wish I could remain apart from this world, invisible, a benevolent watcher. I wish the _Moon Clipper_ didn't shape the Earth's tides. I wish this damn ship came with escape pods. A contingency plan.

"The plan was to get me away. Keep me away. Forever. That's a pretty bad plan, if you ask me."

* * *

"The one vaguely redeemable characteristic Pitch has is his resilience. He always comes back, which isn't a good thing, but no matter how far you knock him down...

"Aster is still complaining about history repeating itself. Another emergency so close to Easter! Scandalous.

"Poor Aster."

* * *

"Nightlight was born in Sayashi Sekisi, in the Avath District. His family had been aligned with ours for millennia, as our guardians.

"My father and Nightlight's father were near polar opposites. Valel was a free spirit, he loved snow and the wind. My father was serious. I don't think I saw him truly smile once in my life.

"Nightlight never speaks, probably since he doesn't want to. I've heard him laugh plenty of times. He used to be all play and no work. Even though all he does now is work, he still glows like a little night-light.

"And me? I really don't know. I used to try acting like my father, all wise and stern, but I'm not like him at all.

"It used to be that I laughed too much."

* * *

"Jack. North. Sandy. Tooth. Aster. And John. It's me, your Man in the Moon.

"Hello.

"I was always somewhat of a ghost to you. I never spoke, except through moonbeams. I never visited...

"If you're listening to this, then welcome to the _Moon Clipper_. This is the last of the stardust class ships, the last relic of the Golden Age.

"Sandy, in the heart of the ship, the star converter, you'll find some stardust. I imagine it's somewhat similar to your dreamsand, but far more powerful. Dangerous. You may take it if you wish.

"North. Nightlight, my companion, has given you leave to take the converter. You may find its parts useful.

"Toothiana, to you, I give my baby teeth. I know you'll keep them safe.

"Aster, I had no idea what you might like... so I left you the sword of Kozmotis Pitchiner, Zarya. An emblem of hope in a time of darkness.

"Jack Frost. This gift I have for you is very, very important. The moonbeam dagger, from Nightlight's staff. You'll have need of it, eventually.

"And John Storm, my newest Guardian. My last, as well. You remind me of Nightlight sometimes. His armor might fit you.

"And so, my Guardians, here I leave you.

"But one last thing-leave this place behind, and never return. You all are most likely dying to listen to the rest of this, but I'd like you to save it for someone else. Forget this ship exists. One day, humanity will discover the _Moon Clipper_, and that is when I'd like this recording to be heard in its entirety. Farewell."

* * *

"Nightlight, if you could please stop banging around in the converter for twelve hours, the rest of the world has to sleep.

"Thank you."

* * *

"_Emorane_ is a strange verb. In the past tense, it means something like 'to love in remembrance.' Ea memoria, an memori, sen memor, am memoriar, sena memorian."

* * *

"Samnet aloret isten aniri xevet-isten aniret ara novet-samen, samnet aloret isten aniri xevet-isten aniret ara novet-novum, samnet aloret isten aniri xevet-isten aniret ara isten aniri... Done. I counted all the way to 80,171,100. I deserve a medal."

* * *

"So. This is the end of my audio log. I had a wonderful time sitting here talking to myself. Thanks for the memories...

"Hey, you. Listener.

"The next time you're looking up at the moon, stop and remember your childhood, when you were young. Remember the Guardians. Believe in them, as I have, and always will.

"Hope. Dream. Play. Wonder. Have courage. And remember.

"This is the end of Tsar Lunanoff XII's audio journal. Tvet yara sableda."

"You have reached the end of the audio file _Superluminal_. Please indicate if you wish to play the file again or if you wish to return to the command menu."

* * *

**author's note:** soundtrack: bells, helen jane long; cold december, matt costa; cap diamant, coeur de pirate; s'fagaim mo bhaile, enya


End file.
